Single Handing Safety Tips and Considerations

[hardee]

Some really great information here. Thanks to everyone for sharing.

One of the things going into my boat this season is a "ditch bag". To the "normal" things included, one addition I am going to add is 2 bright hunter orange stocking caps. They help retain body heat and the show up MUCH BETTER than any other colored caps except maybe the High-Vis green.

Currently, I wear my PFD ALWAYS when on the boat. It has a whistle (Fox 40) and a high visibility strobe attached, along with the boat name. I also keep my handheld I am thinking of adding a new twist, a McMurdo Smartfind S-10. This device is like a PLB but either has or includes, an AIS transmitter as well, that puts out a specific AIS signal, recognizable as an emergency AIS spot, and is receivable on any AIS receiver. (As I look into this, I will be posting more about it's capability and practicality.)

Hooking up when in the cockpit is another thing I am very interested in. I have witnessed several occasions where unintentional over-boarding has taken someone by surprise. Unfortunately, that little incident does not always have a good outcome, so prevention is warranted. My PFD does already have a harness system.

I rather like Barry's approach, and though I consider myself a fairly safe boater, as I said in the beginning, there are things to learn. this has been great.

Harvey
SleepyC

[Kushtaka]

Boy, you all are in my wheelhouse now! I singlehand a LOT (in many different boats) in some of Alaska's most remote and challenging waters. I regularly make 100 mile runs up and down the Copper River solo (as far as I know, I'm the only person who does this), and I work out in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska, and do a lot of my work dropping off or picking up field crews, so I'm usually single handed on at least one leg of any given trip.

I have to say that you guys are ahead of most. This is a very safety conscious crowd. I would expect nothing less from a group so dedicated to such a practical boat!

I actually don't have a ton to add that wasn't covered already, but wanted to reinforce what a few others have said, maybe in a slightly different way, and provide some of my experiences.

First, aside from all the prep (weather, fuel, proper gear, float plan, etc) developing a good situational awareness is critical, and something a LOT of boaters think they have, but they do not. One of the things that a passenger does that is rarely considered in single hand discussions is point things out that are interesting. Sometimes these things are important to the boat's operation. So, developing the discipline to maintain 360 degrees of lookout, all the time (not just in front of you), and then the ability to judge whether or not something is a big deal (comes with experience), and if you aren't ABSOLUTELY SURE something is ok, ERROR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION. Situational awareness only goes so far. You can perceive a challenge perfectly, but situational awareness is far more than that, it means perceiving the problem, evaluating it, and deciding a course of action based not only on the immediate problem, but what will happen two, three, four or fifteen steps past that problem. An overly simplified example is a large beam wave heading toward you that you see and decided to steer into (probably smart) but then noticing that that course correction would bring you too close to a hazard, so you do something else like put the wave to your stern and ride in front, then turn into it when it's clear. That's situational awareness, and it needs to be developed, and can be developed by applying it to all the decisions you make, even when everything is going really well and you are making easy decisions in the captains chair. Just challenge yourself to think about these easy decisions three or four steps beyond. Then when you need to, it will be second nature!

Second, get some wilderness medical training. Taking your standard red cross first aid/cpr course is great, but wilderness medicine is different. The technical MEDICAL definition of wilderness is being one hour or more from definitive medical care (i.e. a real hospital). So, even if you are in New York harbor or cruising a mile from downtown seattle, YOU ARE IN A WILDERNESS CONTEXT medically speaking. Get some training on how to handle it. Wilderness First Aid is a 2 day course that every boater should take. It is a whirlwind though, and many may get a LOT more out of Advanced Wildnerness First Aid, which is a 4 day course, and paced a lot more reasonably. The ultimate would be to get trained as a Wilderness First Responder, which is a two week course, so really only practical for professionals or people with a lot of extra time. Also, learn how to throw a stitch. If you can get it, put some sutures in your med kit. It isn't difficult to do and it could be a lifesaver.

Third (maybe most importantly) get intimately familiar with your boat's response to control inputs. How many people know how many rotations their steering wheel is from stop to stop? How many people can hop onto any boat tied to a dock and center the wheel without moving anywhere? How many know exactly how their boat will respond when, for example, you turn the wheel 2 full revolutions to starboard at 3800 rpm? Most everyone drives a boat like a car (meaning that you end a steering input once the vessel has reached the desired vector when you should be bringing the wheel to center as you approach that vector) which turns the same at 2 mph as it does at 60, for the same steering input. How many of you keep track of the wheel turning in terms of revolutions from center, and know how many revolutions your wheel is from center at all times, such that you can correct back to center without the movement of the boat? If you can do this, you will stop oversteering (save gas!) and you will operate your boat much more safely. Most boaters, even the very very experienced steer WRONG, and oversteer constantly as part of their "normal" operation. Thus as they come to the direction they desire they steer past it and then have to correct and steer the boat in the opposite direction to stop the turn. I know people on here pay attention to their tachometers, so I won't go into that lecture, but steering a boat like a car is by far the most common issue that I correct. Having this discipline become second nature will enhance your ability to control your boat, and can almost be like having an extra sense at your disposal once you are fluent. When things get nasty, it gives you one less thing to think about because knowing your wheel/rudder position will become automatic, and become separate from the direction the boat is moving, which aren't always the same!!!

Fourth, I'd like to discuss EPIRB, PLB, and Communicators (I use all of them regularly, and for different purposes). SPOT and InReach (communicators) are awesome for communicating that you are okay. Not as good at summoning help because they do not have a direct line to SAR, which a PLB or EPIRB does have. InReach does allow you two way communication, so you can participate a bit more in summoning help, but messages move slowly and in the midst of a crisis, may be more of a distraction than help. An EPIRB is ideal, but usually too large to carry on you at all times. a PLB is a smaller version (yes, there are mini EPIRBS too) with the same general idea (register straight to NOAA, activation of the device goes straight to SAR). You want to have at least a PLB on your person at all times, separate from the EPRIB on your boat.

There are two technologies used to get SAR to you once one of these device shave been activated. The devices emit a radio frequency (406mhz, do NOT get one operating at 121.5mhz!! Those are old and not monitored by satellite anymore!) that can display your position when polar orbiting satellites measure the doppler shift of the frequency as they pass over. This can also be monitored by handheld receivers that detect the signal's direction. All of these devices do this. EPIRBS, and the better PLBs also encode your GPS coordinates in their radio signal and deliver that info to SAR. This is a pretty huge advantage to give rescuers, HOWEVER, I have been on land, awaiting helo evac, with my exact lat/long communicated to the helo, and a signal mirror, and it still took them ten minutes of flying around to find me... the point is that you need to give SAR every advantage, and even if you do, they still will have a tough time looking for you. Someone posted that these devices take the "S" out of "SAR." They do not. They just help, a LOT, but there is still a lot of searching to do.

Fifth, when I'm alone, I pee into the splashwell. Kind of gross, but it cleans easily. The stats on drowning deaths from boats where the victims are found with their pants down are no joke.

Finally, If I'm working alone on the boat, especially if lines are in the water such that fouling my prop is a concern, and conditions aren't ideal, one thing I'll do is use my kicker as my primary power/steering. This way I'm controlling the boat from the cockpit where I'm working, and if the prop gets fouled I have my big engine to get home on. I've learned this the hard way and nearly had bad days turn into last days because I fouled my main prop in a bad spot.

Some ideas I've had but never tried the effectiveness of (thank goodness!)

1. If you have AP you might keep a remote control on you, and you could just steer the boat back to you if you can get to the remote before the boat is out of range;

2. if you have a remote windlass, perhaps you can deploy your anchor in time to stop the boat's drift

3. There are some gizmos out there now that have individuals wear a fob, and if anyone goes overboard, it automatically alerts/alarms and discovers a distance and bearing to the MOB (e.g. http://www.manoverboardsystems.com). This is really cool technology, and has saved lives, but requires at least one human to remain on board. I see no technological reason why that tech can't be integrated into an AP system such that the boat returns to the MOB, stops a small distance away, and maintains position. I can see that if there is a current or wind that the boat could stop downwind/current from the MOB, making it an energy sapping and likely futile chase, but there are certainly ways around that, like returning a boat to within remote control range (and integrate the MOB fob and the AP remote). I would spend some serious $$ on that type of technology, and it would pay for itself in my workplace by allowing me more discretion in sending staff out solo (I am the only one who is allowed to be without a buddy, but I usually take a very good dog with me who has saved my bacon a few times, but that's a different story!).

[Hunkydory]

To me, the most important safety factor of all is not any of the items so far listed, though most all mentioned including common sense could be of use to prevent ones own or crew's demise or serious injury & this is something you either have or do not. Fortunately for those who don't, the operation & use of a C-Dory boat is very forgiving & the dangers low for how most use this very inherently safe boat. The safety factor I rate the highest is the innate ability to have a clear mind & not freeze when confronted with a rapidly changing situation where making the right decisions immediately & progressively determine the outcome. Of course having various safety items available & being practiced in their use is beneficial, but if you freeze up when confronted with the unforeseen, not very.

Personally, I feel there is a proper balance to be maintained between the emphasis of safety & the pure enjoyment in the use of our boats. Many think nothing of the drive to & from where they launch or shove off from the dock their boat, where they are passing other people in their vehicles at high speed with very few feet of separation with no control or knowledge of the condition of the other drivers they are meeting or passing with very little fear or none of the precarious situation they are in, but once on the water in a actual much safer environment, the need for the comfort of various safety items escalates monumentally. During the last 13 years we have made several long remote cruises in Southeast Alaska, where none of our many safety items have thus far been used to prevent disaster other than keeping a clear head in a few tight situations & for me, the road trip getting to the water has always been the most actual dangerous part of these cruises.

So, whether single handling or not my advise is to bring along the amount of safety items that will mentally allow you to fully enjoy your boat on the water & the many posters on this thread have made a good list here from which to choose.

Jay

[rogerbum]

I agree Jay. However, I find that "the innate ability to have a clear mind & not freeze when confronted with a rapidly changing situation..." is directly correlated with the number of times one has thought about the possible things that could go wrong and how they would respond. In some cases, that means I carry safety gear that others would feel is in excess. In other cases it means I'll do something that other might not do or that others might think is counter intuitive.

For example, if for some reason I manage to fall over, it's drilled into my head that the first thing I must do is get a few quick strokes in to get away from the boat (the props, the fishing gear, the downriggers etc). This is counter to what one might do if you haven't thought it through and drilled the correct response into you head. Of course this means that I would then have to count on others on the boat to return to me and that of course means that I have to train them on how to do that (preferably this training takes place while I'm not in the water). It also means that they need to know where the heaving line is and how to use it. It also means that they have to know where the boarding ladder is and how to deploy it. It also means that they might have to call the coast guard so they have to know how to use the VHF.

This one scenario, when thought through, implies a bunch of actions I have to take in advance in order to increase my odds of recovery. While this scenario, isn't applicable to single handing, the idea that one think through possible/reasonably high probability problems, and then figure out to either manage the risk or respond in advance applies to many potential situations. None of my disaster scenario thinking makes me less willing to use the boat. In fact it has the opposite effect (like you state) as it mentally allows me to fully enjoy the boat.

[Lost Petrel]

This is a great discussion, and I have picked up some tips from it. I have single-handed sailboats a lot, but typically from the cockpit. This new to me C25 has presented a new issue of getting from the helm to the dock.

Though not necessarily a safety issue and therefore perhaps deserving a new thread, I am curious about the process used by others when coming to a dock with no one around.

Wild Blue is set with bow lines led back to the cockpit and a mid ship fender from the window, so I am guessing I would set her against the dock and scurry out the back, but is there a better/safer way?

[colbysmith]

Tim, that's pretty much how I do it on Midnight Flyer. (CD-22). I try to use any wind or current to my benefit as well. With opposing wind and/or current, but enough room, I try to get at least one line on by hurrying back to the cockpit, and then using the engine to "spring" back into position, leaving the engine in gear while I tie up the other line. But most the time, it's either calm enough, or winds in my favor, to get back to the cockpit and tie up before floating off. I've also been known to grab dock posts out my window when I first arrive. Otherwise, if pulling into a dock or marina that have others around, it's usually fairly common for someone to come over and help out or take a line. Colby

[Lost Petrel]

Thanks Colby, I was wondering about that concept

[RobLL]

C-dory Solo list
Before Leaving Dock
Engine(s) in forward and reverse and steering stop to stop
PFD inflatable, SOLAS approved, strobe and handheld VHF with DSC, Fox Whistle attached, EPIRB?
Weather check and Float plan,
Fuel and battery monitoring.
Check all electronics, Radio, Chart Plotter, secondaryGPS, Radar, AIS, depth sounders, Radios
Flare gun, Paper charts at hand, food and drink, sun glasses
Safety Harness & tether going forward or on swim platform; system to re-board without assistance.

Do: Stay in the cabin or cockpit, call for help early, use radio for help if you are confused
Maintain situation awareness, scan gauges and screens regularly and frequently, watch for floaters forward, and traffic, all around, stay in cabin while on auto pilot, stay off bow deck or cabin side gunnel, and v-berth, rest when weary. Pee before leaving. A second life ring or PFD keeps more of your body out of the water, perhaps holding hyperthermia at bay for a bit longer. Also making you a little more visible. Also a float coat and/or large trash bag and shower hat. Never stand on a seat to pee over the side First Aid Kit This should be on a separate list, consider wilderness first aid course.

Determine your one-man anchoring procedure, also avoid accidental deployment. - whether or not you ever plan to anchor - practise, and become familiar with the equipment and procedure. A second anchor and rode that can be deployed from the cockpit. After being deployed and set it can be secured to a mid cleat while you go forward line in hand and secure it to the bow cleat. Or, run a line(before leaving port) from the cockpit through the bow eye and back to the cockpit. After setting the anchor and securing it to a mid cleat this line can be used to pull the rode forward to the bow eye. This line can then be secured to the opposite mid cleat.

mooring and docking aids, convenience factor.
fixed" bow and stern lines in place for both port and starboard. The four bitter ends of the lines are secured in cam-cleats mounted on the gunnel near midship location . Fenders, One round fender deployed through the cabin window and secured to the port/starboard midship cleat. Each conventional fender is kept tied to the outside handholds on the aft side of the cabin. If properly tied off, it's simple to merely flop the appropriate fender over the gunnel prior to making your approach to the dock.

Thanks to: Hardee, Rob, O Cino, Sunbeam, Thataway, Foggy, Gulf Coast John, Casey, Robert Wilkinson, Kushtaka

[Robert H. Wilkinson]

[Lost Petrel]

Thanks Rob. And just to clarify, when you say

[Hunkydory]

[Robert H. Wilkinson]

[Lost Petrel]

OK, I see. I installed and used mid-ship cleats on all my sailboats, and find them very useful for singlehanded docking. I just have to get use to using the motor in conjunction with them.

Thanks, Tim

[Robert H. Wilkinson]

Tim, another thing that might help you is keeping a dock pole/hook handy on the side you are coming to. Getting to the dock and to the stern of your boat you can grab a cleat/post and hang on by hand while you use the pole to grab a point closer to your bow. This could be a cleat, post or even the dock line of a boat on the other side of a finger dock. Holding the pole tight will hold your bow in while you then secure the stern line to the cleat you are hanging on to. You can then drop the pole and step off with the bow line in hand.

My best advise - if you mess up - the first thing you should do is - LOOK TO SEE IF ANYBODY WAS WATCHING

[Lost Petrel]

Rob, I am already one up on that,